Edwardian Kitchen Floor Dilemma!

[amewse]

We have a dilemma with what to do with the Kitchen floor in our house. It is a brick built house (1911) with solid walls and the kitchen floor (originally the scullery) is quarry tiled over a thin layer of mortar on compacted rubble/sand, with presumably no form of DPM. The tiles were covered in three layers of vinyl when we moved in, also very damp (and smelly) when we removed the vinyl. Once able to breathe, the foor dried out and has been ok but freezing cold in winter.
Beneath the kitchen is a large rainwater storage tank, fed by downpipe and with an overflow to the drain, it has a cast iron inspection cover in the middle of the kitchen floor.

We have now removed the wall beween the kitchen and former coal house to enlarge the kitchen. The former coal house is to receive a new insulated concrete floor. We want to put new T & G floorboards over both the old and new floor areas and are considering the options. We really do not want to rip up the old kitchen floor due to the disruption and need to retain access to the water storage tank cover. We had considered the following:

Remove the quarry tiles
Level the subfloor with self levelling compound
Lay DPM over
Lay treated 50m x 25mm battens
Insulate between the battens
Lay new T & G floorboards on the battens with a hatch for the inspection cover.

Firstly, is this a good idea?
Secondly, we only need the new T & G floor where it can be seen and could leave the areas underneath the kitchen units just as concrete to allow the old floor to breathe ( this would be approx 50% of the area). Is this a good idea?

Thanks for any comments that you might have.

 

[WoodYouLike]

Sounds like a plan.
I would install 50 x 75mm battens. 50mm is the minimum height you need to secret nail the boards and 75mm gives you more room to manoeuvre plus more stability. And depending on how you install these battens the dpm you install (liquid?) might be rendered useless (hammer screws come to mind - screws will go through the dpm)

You don't need to go underneath the kitchen units with your wood floor.

 

[amewse]

Thanks for the advise on battens. What would be the best way to fix these to the subfloor without compromising the DPM beneath them?

 

[WoodYouLike]

Flexible adhesive (also known as 'liquid battens'), you could purchase "sausages" and apply the adhesive with a hand or special air gun.

 

[mac391]

I presume, you want pine or t&g flooring as a compliment to the existing structure. how would the kickboards under the units look with this significant height differnce, also the door or doors off the kitchen?. Alternative = DPM (liquid) over existing tiles (1mm) latex screed (3mm) vinyl tiles (2mm). There are some unbelievably good vinyl tiles on the market that would compliment your kitchen, easy maintenance and no height problems. Noticably, Karndean or Amtico. If you have not heard of these, just www. in front of them and google.. Your new floor however, will contain moisture and care should be taken..

We have a dilemma with what to do with the Kitchen floor in our house. It is a brick built house (1911) with solid walls and the kitchen floor (originally the scullery) is quarry tiled over a thin layer of mortar on compacted rubble/sand, with presumably no form of DPM. The tiles were covered in three layers of vinyl when we moved in, also very damp (and smelly) when we removed the vinyl. Once able to breathe, the foor dried out and has been ok but freezing cold in winter.
Beneath the kitchen is a large rainwater storage tank, fed by downpipe and with an overflow to the drain, it has a cast iron inspection cover in the middle of the kitchen floor.

We have now removed the wall beween the kitchen and former coal house to enlarge the kitchen. The former coal house is to receive a new insulated concrete floor. We want to put new T & G floorboards over both the old and new floor areas and are considering the options. We really do not want to rip up the old kitchen floor due to the disruption and need to retain access to the water storage tank cover. We had considered the following:

Remove the quarry tiles
Level the subfloor with self levelling compound
Lay DPM over
Lay treated 50m x 25mm battens
Insulate between the battens
Lay new T & G floorboards on the battens with a hatch for the inspection cover.

Firstly, is this a good idea?
Secondly, we only need the new T & G floor where it can be seen and could leave the areas underneath the kitchen units just as concrete to allow the old floor to breathe ( this would be approx 50% of the area). Is this a good idea?

Thanks for any comments that you might have.

 

[amewse]

Thanks for the info. The kitchen is new and has telescopic legs so a modest height change is no problem. Ideally I would lay surface dpm and then a thin laminate type finish but I don't know if this is a good idea? The area is only about 4 square metres.